It is said that the order volume has exploded!
Author: CH_Chen
Today, “involution” is everywhere, from students cramming classes (which have been banned) to working hard (which is not advocated) to dressing up for nucleic acid testing (not necessary), everywhere is full of competition.
The automobile market is no exception, and the fierce market competition forces each manufacturer to show their strengths. Among them, the competition for cost performance is the most intense, and in the new energy vehicle market, LI is the “king of kings” on this route.
LI’s third model – the LI C11 was once called the “cost-effectiveness ceiling for EVs under 200,000 yuan”, with an initial starting price of only 159,800 yuan for a medium-sized pure electric SUV equipped with front double-wishbone + rear multi-link independent suspension, frameless doors, a starting range of 510km, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 7.9s, with every possible configuration.
Although the price of the entire series of LI C11 increased by 20-30,000 yuan last month due to the rise in battery costs, its cost performance is still very prominent compared to products at the same price on the market.
April’s “New Car” sales chart:
With extreme cost performance and multiple safeguards for the supply chain, LI sold 9,087 units in April, with the smallest month-on-month sales decline among the “New Car” camp and surpassed the position of “WmAuto” on the sales chart.
Pleased with oneself and swift in action, last night, riding the wave of hot sales, LI brought us a brand new mid-size sedan – LI C01. You can tell from the name that it is based on the C11 platform, and its pre-sale price is only 180,000 to 270,000 yuan, still a cost-effective product.
Do you believe you can buy a 5-meter-long C-class car for 180,000 yuan?
Now, even if we don’t consider the “new energy vehicles” category, it’s hard to find a C-class sedan longer than 5 meters on the Chinese car market with only 180,000 yuan. If we set our sights on the new energy vehicle market, the options become even more limited. This is the market that the LI One is targeting－one that few manufacturers have been able or willing to enter.
More importantly, like the LI One, the LI C01 is not merely “putting on airs” by stretching its length to enter a higher tier. Its hardware construction does indeed meet the standards of C-class cars.
Besides having a 5050 * 1902 * 1509 (mm) body size and a 2930mm wheelbase, the LI C01 features a chassis with front double wishbone suspension and rear multi-link suspension, and a rear-wheel/four-wheel drive power layout. The official 0-100km/h time of the rear-wheel drive model is 7.61s-7.18s, and that of the four-wheel drive model is 4.2s-3.66s.
By using the innovative CTC battery chassis integrated structure, the LI C01 combines the battery skeleton and the chassis and body structure into one. In addition, the steel-aluminum hybrid body with a high-strength steel proportion of 73.9% and a hot-formed steel proportion of 24.1%, enables the LI C01’s white body torsional stiffness to reach 31144Nm/degree, which is an excellent level for a C-class sedan, theoretically providing stronger deformation resistance and handling performance.
In terms of the most important concern of consumers, the LI C01 offers 500 standard endurance version, 606 long endurance version, 717 ultra-long endurance version, and 630 Pro performance version, 630Pro+ high-performance version, five configuration versions in total. The preceding number for each variant is its rated range and its endurance is at the mainstream level in the market.
As for the appearance, the LI C01 does not simply copy the design of the LI C11; instead, it integrates new design elements with the foundation of the LI C11. Its slim body, sleek lines, and rounded roof-line design give it a bit of a Mercedes-Benz EQS flavor.
This design is clearly aimed at reducing wind resistance. With 16 aerodynamic optimization designs, the wind resistance coefficient of the LI C01 is only 0.226Cd, although there is still a considerable gap between this number and the Mercedes-Benz EQS’s 0.20Cd, it is already an outstanding level in the same class or price range.
At the same time, LINGPAI C01 adopts a penetrating design for both front and rear light groups, with custom light language interactive functions. Additionally, frameless doors, hidden door handles, and low wind resistance wheels are also present, without exception. All new elements are trendy and modern.
The aesthetic appeal of a vehicle is subjective, but personally, I think the elongated rear suspension of the LINGPAI C01 makes its tail section appear too plain. By further lengthening the wheelbase, shortening the rear suspension, or enhancing the power of the tail section, the side view may be elevated to a higher level.
Regarding the interior design, LINGPAI C01 continues the C11 design, with changes only seen in the details. With the support of three large screens, the interior has a strong sense of technology. Furthermore, on the previously released LINGPAI C11, material quality for the interior was quite cost-effective, which would likely not be the case for the more high-end LINGPAI C01.
LINGPAI’s Leapmotor OS intelligent cockpit uses the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 car chip, with 12GB of memory and 128GB of storage space. The three large screens are controlled by the same chip, enabling linkage between the three screens; the passenger’s screen supports separate Bluetooth audio output, and during parking, the LCD instrument panel in front of the driver can also display movies. I have only seen this feature on LINGPAI’s cars.
In terms of intelligent functions, LINGPAI C01 is equipped with Face ID facial recognition and iFlytek’s 3.5 version voice recognition system. The former enables facial recognition startup and personalized configuration adaptation, while the latter enables intelligent voice functions such as natural semantic dialogue and visible voice commands.
Furthermore, for application ecology, the LINGPAI C01 is equipped with an Android virtual machine, and by dissecting the Android’s underlying architecture, the vehicle information system is integrated with Android application ecology, with compatibility exceeding 99%.
As a C-class sedan, the noble feeling inside the car cannot be ignored, and the LI C01 not only uses Nappa leather seats and suede headliners, but also equips the top models with a “boss seat” in the rear row, with the right rear seat capable of controlling front and rear movement and angle adjustment with one button, and being linked with the front row seats. When there are no passengers in the rear row, the front row seats automatically move forward and the backrest tilts forward, while the rear seats move forward 10cm and the backrest tilts back 10 degrees, providing a more spacious and comfortable riding experience for the boss seat.
At the same time, the top models also have a multimedia control screen in the rear row, which can control seat heating, air conditioning temperature, air conditioning air volume, music, and the position of the co-pilot seat. Besides not having massage seats in the rear row (the front row does), the noble feeling of the boss is well taken care of.
From Self-Research to CTC
“Self-research” has always been the point emphasized in LI’s promotion materials, and it is LI’s core competitiveness, not only enabling LI to maintain its unique technological advantages, but also the key to LI’s ability to achieve extreme cost-effectiveness.
In the LI C01, the assisted driving chips and technology are still self-developed. It will be equipped with two self-developed Lingxin 01 chips by LI, with a single chip computing power of 4.2 TOPS, and 28 high-precision sensing hardware at the same time, including 1 binocular camera, 1 forward millimeter-wave radar, 4 corner millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, 4 panoramic cameras, 4 blind spot cameras, and 1 face recognition camera.
More importantly, the LI C01 will come standard with 23 assisted driving functions, achieving L2 level intelligent driving assistance, including active safety, lane centering, and turn signal lane change are all standard across the entire line!
In addition, users can also subscribe to NAP intelligent navigation assisted driving for an additional fee, and with the help of high-precision maps, the C01 can achieve functions such as autonomous ramp entry and exit, autonomous overtaking, automatic speed limit adjustment, and optimal lane planning. Although viewed from 2022, the C01’s assisted driving hardware strength is not outstanding, the standard configuration is sufficiently high, and mainstream functions have not been left out, so its assisted driving capabilities are still highly anticipated.
However, the most eye-catching self-developed technology on the LI C01 is not the assisted driving, but the CTC “battery-free battery pack” technology.Zero Runner is the second car company in the world to release CTC technology, following Tesla. Since Tesla’s CTC-equipped models are also not yet in mass production, we cannot conclude who will be the world’s first car company to mass-produce CTC technology between Zero Runner and Tesla. However, this has already fully demonstrated Zero Runner C01’s leading position in the integrated technology of the car body and batteries.
By integrating the battery, chassis, and lower body design, the Zero Runner C01 reduces redundant structural design and effectively reduces the number of components. Compared with traditional solutions, CTC technology has a higher degree of integration and modularity, reducing the number of parts by 20%, lowering the cost of structural components by 15%, and increasing the stiffness of the entire vehicle by 25%. This brings larger space, longer range, stronger performance, and higher safety performance to the entire vehicle.
Moreover, Zero Runner’s CTC technology also has two major features: “high adaptability” and “strong expansion.” It has broad application and development space, can adapt to future vehicles of various levels and types across platforms, achieve flexible batch production, and be compatible with 800V high-voltage platforms in the future, supporting 400kW super-fast charging.
However, for some consumers, the question of whether the integrated battery chassis will result in a rise in accident repair costs has not been clarified by Zero Runner officially.
CTC technology is undoubtedly one of the future development directions for electric vehicles, but similar to the body-integrated technology promoted by Tesla earlier, it may also bring the risk of increased maintenance costs for consumers in special situations.
Buy early and enjoy, no guarantee of discounts later
Before sharing my viewpoints, it needs to be emphasized that this article has no commercial collaboration and has not been recharged by Zero Runner!
For those genuinely interested in Zero Runner C01, I recommend that you place an order now because Zero Runner’s pre-sale policy involves zero-dollar reservations and comes with a lifetime warranty for the three-core system.
Zero costs cannot be deceived.
Based on Zero Runner’s previous “routine,” Zero Runner C01 is likely to increase in price after its launch because, at the present price, it cannot be said to be profitable, but it is also unsustainable. Buying early and enjoying the benefits, without discounts later, cannot be overstated for Zero Runner’s car.You can see that the way that ZEALAUTO is taking is very straightforward: “lose money to gain popularity.” In the early stages, products are sold at a low price to enter the market and build up reputation. After gaining market recognition, the price slowly rises to a more reasonable level. This was the case for T03 and C11.
Those who have experienced ZEALAUTO’s cars should know that although their cars still have room for improvement in terms of refinement, they have strong competitiveness at the same price point. “Qualified at the same level, excellent at the same price” should be the most accurate description of ZEALAUTO’s product strength.
Therefore, if the prices are similar, which one would you choose between the ZEALAUTO C01, BYD Han/ Dolphin, XPeng P7, and Tesla Model 3?
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.